This invention relates to mechanical fuzes and, more particularly, to a safing and arming mechanism for a mechanical fuze which is adapted for use in a bomb or the like, such as a submunition, which spins while in flight.
It is axiomatic in the fuze art that a fuze should be certain in action, safe in handling and using, free from deterioration in storage, simple in design and operation, and easy to manufacture and load. However, the known prior art establishes that, primarily because some of these requirements are conflicting (such as, safety features tending to complicate the design, and thereby increasing the difficulty of manufacture), the "ideal" fuze, especially of the mechanical type, has not as yet been attained. Further, due to the advent and to the use (potential or actual) of submunitions systems, there exists a genuinely critical current need for a mechanical fuze and/or safing and arming mechanism thereof which, in addition to the above mentioned requirements, can also uniquely combine and utilize the effects of two environments (i.e., spin, and aerodynamic drag deceleration) to "fast arm" the fuze. These additional requirements are imposed because submunitions (or "bomblets," as they sometimes are referred to), which are conventionally of the autorotating type, and which also are traditionally and preferably of the spherically configurated type, are designed for dispensing or introduction into the airstream at a predetermined height above the ground and/or target. The selected height is of necessity, sufficiently above the ground (or target) so as to allow enough time for the aerodynamic forces to spin the spherical (and usually fluted) configurated submunition(s) to the preselected arming spin rate. During this time the drag deceleration force also acts upon the submunition(s).
I have invented a safing and arming mechanism which meets the above-mentioned requirements and fulfills the present pressing need in the mechanical fuze art. Thereby, I have significantly advanced the state-of-the-art. In addition, my inventive mechanism has the added important advantages of: (1) requiring a dynamic arming spin that is materially lower than the static (or bench) arming spin rate, thereby providing increased handling safety; and (2) arming only as the result of the combined effects of exposure to the spin and to the aerodynamic drag deceleration environments, irrespective of whether said combined effects are simultaneous or separate (i.e., sequential).